The Knight from the Stars
by Somethingedgy
Summary: : A mysterious stranger comes to the lonely uncharted world of Thedas seeking refuge, but few can stay hidden from the Empire forever. His presence brings the Empire's chief enforcers to this new world, and perhaps a new permanent resident to join Hawke's party in their misadventures.
1. Chapter 1

The Imperator class star destroyer _Grey wolf_ exited hyperspace and came into high orbit above the newly discovered world.

Flanked by a pair of ISB agents, an imperial Inquisitor marched up the bridge walk way that divided the crew pit and regarded the planet bellow with an Icey stare. Her approach silenced the background hum of conversation, faces regarded the imposing figure in curiosity or took great effort in pretending to ignore her out of fear of sudden reprisal.

Turning to the captain, a tired and balding middle aged man, the inquisitor spoke.

"This is the one, have a squad of Stormtroopers assemble at hangar bay 1 and requisition me a shuttle."

"Yes, my lord" The captain responded. He relayed the command to a lower ranking officer who gave a crisp salute before turning on his heel to carry out his orders.

* * *

"This is your last warning, Mage!" the leader of a group of armoured soldiers spat with a religious zeal. "Come quietly now and maybe you will get the headsman's axe rather than the rite!"

Standing before the group, a man in robes sighed. He reached out of his robes and gently waved his hand. "I am no mage, you will leave me be." He spoke, his tone was soft like that of a parent reassuring a child.

The armoured soldiers, Templars he had learned they were called paused momentarily, but sensing the deception they recovered quickly. With a vicious snarl the Templar Capitan drew his sword and charged.

A blinding flash of blue light ended the capitan's life. His helmeted head and both halves of his blade clattered to the stone paved ground with a clang as his fellow knights attempted to take the apostate from all directions. One by one they fell to the apostate and his magical sword until armoured limbs, heads and various primitive weapons littered the alley way like the broken toys of a spoiled child.

The Jedi knight made a mental note to practice and improve his skill with mind trickery before departing the grisly scene and heading out into the moonlit streets of Lowtown.

* * *

TK-510, better known as "Kara" to her comrades, marched dutifully in line with the rest her squad along one of the many corridors that connected the interior of the _Grey Wolf._ The officer leading them stopped at a door and plugged his code cylinder into the key socket. The door opened to reveal the main hangar which was abuzz with activity. Imperial crewmen were busying themselves prepping the Lambda class shuttle, as well as several probe droids for launch.

The officer motioned the Stormtroopers to follow his lead as he approached the shuttle. Standing at the boarding ramp, was an imposing woman clad in black armor and robes adorned with the imperial cog on the chest and shoulders. She held a matching Mandalorian styled full face helmet in the crook of her arm as she spoke with one of her ISB underlings. The squad NCO, a Sergeant named Mala turned his head slightly so that the side of his helmet was facing his squad behind him.

"That must be the Inquisitor everyone is talking about. This can only mean one thing, we are going Jedi hunting."

The mood amongst the squad members darkened as their leader's statement sunk in. The almost mythical Jedi were no joke, even amongst the empire's elite Stormtrooper corps. There were recorded incidents in the past of single Jedi carving their way through the crews of star destroyers with ease. The old clone trooper veterans who taught and instructed at the various academies used to train Stormtroopers and other imperial special forces would speak about the exploits of their Jedi generals with awe, and what many a recruit would swear is a note of regret.

"Lighten up you schoolgirls!" the NCO scolded them as he sensed the decline in morale. "Some monk with a glowstick isn't going to overcome the Empire's best. Not on my watch."

Kara smiled. It couldn't be that bad. With the inquisitor and the unflinching resolve of Mala combined surely the Jedi should be no match.

* * *

"Alright listen up!" Mala's commanding voice called out through the confines of the Lambada's passenger compartment in which his squad was seated. The usual pre-mission squad banter cut short and every unhelmeted head turned in his direction. When he was sure that he had the undivided attention of each squad member he continued.

"About a year ago a surviving Jedi was discovered on a backwater world somewhere in the ass end of the outer rim. Local imperial authorities were alerted but unfortunately the army garrison stationed there was not able to respond in time to prevent him from leaving the planet."

Mala paused, he gazed over to the cockpit entrance and then back to the squad.

"Our inquisitor here has been on the bastard's tail since then and she believes he has been hiding on this uncharted world since that incident."

The Stormtrooper NCO gestured to a holo projector on the wall of the shuttle. The projection displayed the shuttle's progress as it descended through the upper atmosphere of the planet.

"Initial visual and sensor scans indicate that this world supports several different biomes and various ecosystems." After a short pause he continued: "Probe droids sent to the surface have also confirmed the presence of multiple primitive, uncontacted sentient species and their corresponding civilisations."

Several of the squad members, including Kara subconsciously leaned closer in interest.

"Interestingly enough, Humans and various as of yet unencountered species of near humans are confirmed to be amongst the sentient life that call this world home."

Kara's eyes widened. This was beginning to sound like something she would expect to read about in an amateur Holo-net book, not a mission briefing. She was shook from her musings as Mala continued his speech.

"The locals appear to be in a late medieval stage of development, they have likely yet to invent a means to mass print information and there is no evidence of them having developed atmospheric flight." Mala suppressed a sigh as he finished. First encounters with primitive civilisations rarely went smoothly. Especially when it is soldiers making the first contact and not diplomats and scientists who study and are trained for that sort of endeavour.

"But that's enough of the science lesson, the Jedi we are after is human male who goes by the name of Lee Kepler. He is described as a lean, clean shaven man who is thirty-two years of age. The inquisitor believes he has taken refuge in a large settlement located on a continent in the southern hemisphere. We will be landing a few klicks away from said settlement and taking a route inside that will attract the least possible attention. The Inquisitor wants no grand imperial entrances that might stir up a panic and tip him off."

The voice of the pilot over the shuttle intercom Interrupted whatever Mala was going to say next.

"Be advised we are approaching the landing zone now, ETA five minutes."

Mala nodded to himself in acknowledgment to the faceless voice "Buckets on troopers!" He said, ending the briefing.

With that the squad put on their helmets and prepared to disembark.


	2. Chapter 2

**I'd like to thank the people who reviewed, followed and/or favorited this story. This is my first time writing and "publishing" anything outside of English or creative writing coursework in school. I was almost certain that this fic would either be completely ignored or given a few inflammatory reviews and a posting on some youtube channel where the host takes apart terrible fanfiction. Honestly, seeing that first follow when logging in on the morning after posting my first chapter just uplifted me like nothing else, the thought that someone out there found what I did interesting enough to do that. Thank you so much.**

 **I'd appreciate any and all constructive critisim, error spotting etc. I realise that this is far from a perfect piece of writing, but I'd like it to become better in terms of quality as I post more chapters.**

* * *

In the year since he felt the force guide him to this uncharted planet, Lee Kepler had grown somewhat accustomed to Kirkwall and life outside the galaxy as a whole. After all, life here was not so different in many aspects to the average outer rim world and arguably many inner core worlds too such as Coruscant. The rich and wealthy lived in large and relatively clean mansions and houses in the upper levels of the city. The inhabitants of this "Hightown" were snobby, stout and more often than not inherited their considerable wealth from distant ancestors rather than gaining it through personal achievement and significant effort. In his trips to Hightown he had received the most disgusted glances and stares from the so called "Nobles" who called the district home. This was as he discovered, common practice amongst them. Anyone who looked slightly unkempt and came from the lower levels was treated with this contempt. Safe to say a year without access to the advanced refresher facilities of the civilised galaxy had not done wonders for his appearance. Where he was once clean shaven he had now grown a full, but not well kept beard. Washing both his body and clothes with the facilities available was another task that he had not become well accustomed too.

The lower class of Kirkwallers usually lived in "Lowtown". Lee's new appearance meant that he fit in well with the residents of this district. They were the impoverished working class and as such most of them struggled with the struggles that came with that. They often resorted to violent crime and other shady dealings in order to make ends meet. This of course meant that Lowtown was a particularly dangerous place. Bands of muggers and other thugs roamed the streets at night looking for some unfortunate person to rob or worse. On top of this the city guard did not seem to care enough to devote substantial resources to policing the area.

Lee had struggled until now with a moral dilemma. He was a Jedi, it was his duty to protect the innocent and struggling people of this city. He had attempted to fulfill this duty to the best of his ability by helping various people with their problems. In order to survive however he was often forced to do so in return for local currency. Help with these small errands as he would, the more visible issues were difficult to tackle. The roaming gangs that stalked the city at night were not a tactical challenge to him. Their primitive equipment and lack of training made them little match for a Jedi knight. The problem with taking care of them was that he risked being discovered and outed as what the locals called a "Mage". Lee's reliance on technology and knowledge of the force in combat would make him indistinguishable from a mage to these people.

Lee retracted his previous thought of this world being little different than the known galaxy's own planets. As far as he could tell, Magic did indeed exist here, and it was incredibly dangerous. The people who are somehow born with the condition of being able to channel it directly were called Mages, and they were reviled and feared with equal measure. From what he had observed, they were quite right to fear the mages. He had once seen one of them, a short and frail looking near-human woman, dispatching four heavily armed assailants in minutes using only her magic. She had then proceeded to follow a ball of twine into the alienage district.

The Alienage was a small and crowded district centred around a pleasantly well-kept and decorated tree. It was were the Elves, a local species of near humans, were forced to live as second class citizens. Lee had never ventured there as he did not want to become the victim of a revenge attack.

Back to the subject of magic, He had now had his first major altercation with the Templars. The Templars were a militant arm of the Chantry, the state religion of this region. They were tasked with the hunting and retrieval or termination of mages who left something called "the Circle". Their's was a role that grimly reminded him of the Empire's own inquisitors. Lee's encounter with the Templars was as he believed, likely the result of a witness to one of his encounters with a roaming group of thugs.

Lee's thoughts were interrupted as he felt a strong disturbance in the force. The feeling that washed over him was a dark, almost painful tremor the likes of which he had not felt since the very incident that drove him and the other surviving Jedi into hiding in the first place. It could only mean something was coming. No, something had arrived. Something powerful, and full of hate.

* * *

Upon entering the city, the first thing that struck Kara was the nature of the architecture. It was blatantly designed to instil fear, it was as if the entire city were a prison or penal colony of some sort. Unsettling angular statues of people in anguish were strategically placed around the entrances and jagged, angular building design was present all throughout the slums.

The second thing that struck her was the fact that they all spoke galactic basic, albeit with an accent. If that is the case then surely they can't have been separated from the rest of the galaxy for long. She half expected, perhaps hoped that they spoke a lesser known language like Sy Bisti. Living on her own and working for smugglers as a child had left Kara fluent in that particular trade language. The rest of the squad were likely from more civilised worlds and as such they would have had no need to learn such a language. Being an interpreter would have made her feel a bit more valued. Her current role was as the squad's ammunition bearer. For this job, she had a backpack stocked with various supplies, mostly ammunition.

The people of the slums, primarily humans and a few pointy eared near-humans, gave a wide berth to the party of armoured aliens as they walked the streets. The children playing on porches pointed or stared in dumb curiosity, their mothers hushed them quiet and moved them away indoors and out of danger.

The party had just wandered into a courtyard, completely devoid of activity. The inquisitor came to a stop and raised her fist, signalling the troopers following her to halt.

"Prepare yourselves. He is here." She informed the squad through their linked helmet comms.

The Imperials had only to look for a few seconds.

One of the Stormtroopers saw something. "There! He's right abo-" his warning was cut short as the Jedi descended from the roof top above the trooper and impaled him through the heart with a blue lightsaber, killing him instantly.

The imperials were fast, but Lee was faster. Multiple blaster bolts impacted the wall behind where he had landed, blasting chest sized wounds into the primitive stone and wood walls and sending chunks of debris everywhere. The Jedi was on Mala next, splitting his E-11 in two with one slash and removing his right leg with another. Mala let out a wordless scream before falling to the ground and clutching the stump of his leg. The Jedi continued his rampage, deflecting several blaster bolts before slashing another stormtrooper across the chest. By then the Inquisitor herself had moved to engage, her red lightsaber locked with his own blue one in a rapid series of clashes that the surviving stormtroopers had difficulty following. They trained their weapons on the pair, firing now meant an equal chance of hitting either the Jedi or the inquisitor.

The squad medic rushed toward Mala's flailing form, dragging him out of the open and into safety while the rest of the troopers watched, transfixed at the theatre like performance in front of them.

Mala, despite missing a leg at the knee, was seemingly his usual self.

"Don't just stand there you useless maggots, take up flanking positions!"

Kara and another trooper heeded his order and made a break for a building on the opposite side of the courtyard. Unfortunately for them, the Jedi seemed to sense the attempted manoeuvre. He broke his duel with the inquisitor and leaped backwards, he slashed Kara across the back of her leg and used a force push to propel her at high speed through the door of the building and into the wall inside, knocking her out instantly. The other trooper was less fortunate, he attempted to turn around and defend himself but was swiftly beheaded by the Jedi.

In some minor consolation for the lives he took, the Jedi's spree ended there. He raised his lightsaber to deflect the incoming volley from the surviving stormtroopers, but was not swift or concentrated enough and a blaster bolt skimmed his arm. The inquisitor moved to re-engage, the pain searing through Lee's arm degraded his focus even further and it was not long before the inquisitor had a clear upper hand.

Lee was finally overcome. He felt a harsh searing pain at his wrist, he smelled his own charred meat, he felt the inquisitor's lightsaber impaling him through the chest, he felt his back hit the cold hard stone pavement, and then he felt nothing.

Lee Kepler was finally reunited with the rest of the Jedi as he became one with the force.

* * *

Unsurprisingly, the commotion in the courtyard drew the attention of the local authorities. A detachment of Templars and city guards was sent to investigate. Six guardsmen and four templars spilled into the courtyard taking up positions with their various weapons at the ready. The Imperials snapped to attention, the stormtroopers had their blasters trained on the new comers.

"What in the name of Andraste's fiery snatch happened here?!" The mystified guard sergeant questioned as he scanned the battlefield.

"It has to be magic." One of the templars declared. "Look at the burn marks and the damage done to these walls."

"They don't look like mages, look at the armour. I bet they're Tevinters." A guardsman stated in response.

The inquisitor held up her hands in a calming gesture and put on her best soft and soothing tone. "There is no need to be alarmed. We are agents from a foreign nation." She gestured to the corpse of the Jedi. "We came here to track down this… mage."

The guard sergeant was not convinced. He turned to one of the templars, presumably the leader, and asked for his advice "Well, you're the expert on mages. What should we do?"

The templar leader shook his head as he responded. "No, look at those yellow eyes, those robes. She's a Witch of the Wilds if I ever saw one. We should arrest them."

The guard sergeant nodded in acceptance. "Very well. You're all coming with us, drop any weapons you have on you and keep your hands where we can see them."

"That would be ill-advis-" the inquisitor began, but she was cut off by the templar leader.

"Be silent, apostate!"

With a sigh, the inquisitor relented her attempts. Her voice lost its facade of a softer tone and returned to its usual emotionless monotone. "Kill them all, no survivors."

Three of the guardsmen including the sergeant immediately died in a hail of blasterfire, the plasma bolts easily penetrating their steel plate armour and killing them outright. The Templar leader joined them in death as he was lifted into the air, his neck was snapped and he was cast aside like a broken doll. Three more natives were slain as the inquisitor ignited her lightsaber and joined the fray, hacking, slashing and intercepting primitive blades before they hit their mark.

The only still living templar of the group cried out to the two remaining guardsmen. "Maker's breath they're all mages, Fall back!" The three attempted to flee but were each cut down by a shots to the back. The entire scuffle was over in seconds.

"More of the locals will come, burn the corpses, carry the wounded. We must depart quickly and leave no evidence!" Barked the Inquisitor.

The Stormtroopers followed their orders. They set their blasters to full power and unceremoniously cremated their fallen comrades. Mala was hoisted over the Medic's shoulder. Fortunately his wound was cauterized, meaning extra treatment to stop blood loss was unnecessary and departure would therefore be quicker.

Be it carelessness, or the invisible hand of the force, the imperials in their haste had forgotten someone.

* * *

Kara woke with a groan. She opened her eyes to darkness and gasped as her memory came flooding back to her. She stood up and pain seared through her right leg. Her helmet's heads up display noted burn damage to her right leg, just below her knee where the Jedi had caught her with his lightsaber. Thankfully her armour seemed to have stopped the worst of it and she was more or less able to walk. The room was filled with wooden crates which made for good support as she limped toward the exit.

As she limped out of the building and into the now moonlit courtyard, Kara saw no trace of her squad or the skirmish that had taken place other than ashes and broken walls. Her attempts to hail the rest of the squad via helmet comms repeatedly failed and with an encroaching feeling of horror she began to realise what had happened.

Kara began to panic and mutter to herself. "No… no, no, no, no..."

She swore a string of expletives aloud and then sat down in frustration, hugging her legs as she buried her head in them.

"This can't be happening, this isn't happening." She muttered to herself again, her helmet filtered voice disturbing the otherwise peaceful night.

After a few minutes of siting around and feeling sorry for herself, Kara straightened up and pulled herself together. She was a battle tested imperial stormtrooper, she was no longer some traumatised orphan afraid of the future. She was armed, armoured and had a backpack stocked with all the essentials for a prolonged stay on a hostile world.

Slipping the pack from her back and opening it, she surveyed the contents; Eight thermal detonators, multiple power packs for various weapons, a Blastech SE-14r holdout pistol, a vibroknife, enough rations to last a week, and one copy of "The Imperial handbook: A soldier's guide".

As clarity and reason returned to her mind she felt a creeping feeling of shame at her antics upon waking up. At least she figured, no one was around to see it.

"Excuse me, are you alright?" an unconfident female voice called to her.

Kara yelped and almost jumped out of her skin in surprise. So much for that last thought.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to startle you." The voice said apologetically.

The person behind the voice stepped out of the shadows and into view. She was a lithe near-human woman with pointed ears and large green eyes. She had a curious dress code, one that Kara noticed was wildly different from the people she had seen wandering the slums. A green scarf was draped around her neck and a green tunic covered what seemed to be an undersuit of mail armour.

"I'm Merrill." Merrill announced with her best polite smile. She was beginning to worry that she had made a mistake approaching this strange armoured person. Hawke had always cautioned her about being so reckless and trusting with strangers. Especially in Lowtown and at night. Merril had heard what sounded like someone panicking, it would have been selfish in her eyes to just leave someone alone like that when there was a chance she could help them. Now that she had a look, the person was wearing some very strange armour. It was full body and all white, like a skeleton. Something about the overall appearance seemed designed to intimidate.

"Umm.. I hope I haven't offended you or anything, should I ask your name? I'm not very experienced with this sort of thing I'm afraid."

"No, it's alright. I was just startled. I thought I was alone here." The armoured stranger finally responded.

She stood up and approached Merrill with an outstretched hand.

"My designation is TK-510, but most people who know me call me Kara".

Merrill took her hand and shook it firmly, as Varric had instructed her to do when meeting someone for the first time.

"Kara is a beautiful name, would you mind if I called you that. Not that your other name isn't nice, I just find it a bit of a mouthful."

"Of course, I prefer Kara anyway." Kara obliged.

"Thank you." Merrill said with another smile. She found her curiosity getting the better of her.

"Where are you from? And what race are you?" she questioned. "I'm sorry, if I'm being too nosey just tell me to stop."

"It's ok." Kara permitted as she took off her helmet. "I'm a human… from somewhere… far, far away from here."

"Ooh that's interesting." Merrill almost exclaimed with a jovial tone. "I love meeting people from other cultures, especially friendly and pretty ones like you."

Kara blushed at the unexpected compliment. "Uhh.. thank you."

"Oh I'm really sorry, that was a bit crass of me wasn't it." Merrill quickly apologised with a blush of her own. "It's just your red hair, your teeth and everything look so clean, and you have lovely blue eyes too… oh dear I'm just making it worse aren't I? I'll stop rambling now. Sorry."

"No, it's alright" Kara reassured with a chuckle. "It's just been sometime since someone flattered me like that, and it was rarely done so innocently".

"Right… well I had better get back to the alienage before I make even more a fool of myself-" Merrill began as she started walking toward the courtyard's exit.

"Wait." Kara stopped her. "Do you know where I could find a place to stay for the night? I'm a bit lost."

"Well, there's the hanged man, but you would need a bit coin to get a room there." Merrill contemplated for a moment. "I suppose you could stay with me. I have a surprising amount of space for an alienage house."

"That's very kind of you, I'd be honoured to stay so long as I'm not intruding."

"Ooh that's wonderful, I've always wanted a housemate" Merrill said with barely restrained glee. "Come with me, I'll try and lead the way home without getting us lost."

"Thank you, I really appreciate this." Kara responded truthfully. Her accidental exile was at least off to a good start.

* * *

 **That last bit was kind of awkward to write, I didn't quite want Merrill to come across as flirting with Kara, just an awkwardly delivered compliment that she did not really think over, a merrillisim if you will.**

 **Thanks for sticking through to the end :)**


	3. Chapter 3

"Oooh, is it a pretty city?" Merrill asked. "I bet it's prettier than Kirkwall…"

"It depends on your perspective, where you look at it from" Kara responded after some consideration. "If you live in the more wealthy areas it sure as hell looks like a nice place to live. If you're like me and grew up in the slums then it's a different story. No matter where you look at it from however, Kirkwall makes New Daviox look like a gleaming utopia." She conceded with a forlorn sigh.

It was the next morning after Kara had found herself stranded, her burn wound, now wrapped in bactafilm, was healing adequately and she was no longer in any considerable pain. They were sitting at a large hexagonal wooden table eating breakfast, a surprisingly pleasant spiced oatmeal porridge with a side of cheese and crackers. Several ornate and weighty tomes sat in a pile to one side of the table. Just a fraction of the library Merrill had scattered around various shelves and surfaces in her home.

"New Daviox?" Merrill questioned. "Is that the name of your city? Why do they call it new? Was there an old Daviox?"

"Yeah, there was an old one. It was destroyed in some ancient war."

"Oh..." The elf woman seemed genuinely downcast for a moment before changing the subject.

"Do you have family? Humans here usually have very big families, it seems like an exciting life for them." She questioned and remarked with a smile.

Kara considered for a moment. "The closest thing to a family I ever had was a group of orphans and other kids with no place to go. We survived in the undercity, stealing, mugging rich kids and doing other unsavory things. My real family was killed in a separatist bombing when I was a baby. I don't even know their names."

Merrill covered her mouth with both her hands in shock. "Oh dear, I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have asked…"

Kara forced her best reassuring smile "It's alright, mine has been a tough life, but many have it worse."

An awkward silence had now descended upon the apartment, punctuated only by the sound of food being consumed. Kara attempted to break the Ice that seemed to have frozen between them with a question of her own.

"So, you seem to have quite a collection of books. What are they about?"

Merrill's mood seemed to brighten considerably at Kara's inquisitiveness. "Mostly the lore of our people, I was the First to the keeper of our clan."

The back and forth questioning between the two of them continued until well after they had finished eating. Merrill was grateful to have someone she could talk to like this, Varric, Hawke and Isabella would occasionally visit to check on her, and she had some opportunity to talk to the rest of Hawke's group during their days traveling and their nights at the Hanged Man. She never had the opportunity to really get to know and interact with someone the way she had with Kara though. Merrill was quite excited to introduce her new friend to Hawke and the rest.

* * *

Hawke was feeling apprehensive. The last time she had interacted with the marooned Qunari they had attempted to execute her for being in contact with one of their saarebas. Fortunately for her, none of the would be killers had survived to report the altercation to the Arishok. This did little to put her mind at ease however, and she had opted to take with her a small but capable party to their meeting. Small, as to not appear too cautious or hostile to the suspicious Kossith. For such a team she would require at least two mages, herself and kirkwall's friendly neighbourhood blood mage. This requirement brought her to Merrill's alienage apartment.

Hawke knocked on Merrill's door and waited, tapping her feet impatiently while doing so.

The door eventually opened and popping out from behind it, Merrill's face regarded her surprise visitor.

"Ah, Hawke." Merrill greeted with an ear to ear smile. "Come in, I think we have some leftovers from breakfast."

"We?" Hawke questioned as Merrill opened the door fully and allowed her entry.

"Oh." Hawke said plainly as her gaze fell upon a short haired, red headed human woman sitting at one of Merrill's tables. The woman's athletic frame was encased from the top of her neck to the tip of her toes in a strange black skin-tight garb.

"Hello there." Kara acknowledged Merrill's visitor with a nod.

Hawke nodded and smiled in response. She had many questions about the strange woman in Merrill's home, but they would have to wait. "Well, it's nice to see you're making friends here Merrill. I can't stay for a chat I'm afraid though, could you meet me in the Hanged Man in about an hour?"

"Yes of course." Merrill answered. "Would you mind if Kara came along? She'd be awfully lonely here on her own."

Hawke pondered the request. Kara, she assumed was Merrill's new friend. A large party wasn't exactly something Hawke wanted to confront the Arishok with. She was however curious about the company Merrill was keeping.

"Alright, I suppose one more person won't do any harm." Hawke hesitantly agreed. "She can come so long as she doesn't mind stopping for a while in a compound filled with Qunari."

With that, Hawke bid them farewell and took her leave.

"Qunari?" Kara questioned.

"Ohh fascinating people, giants with beautiful horns on their heads like Halla." Merrill answered with a giggle.

* * *

Guard Captain Aveline let out a weary sigh as she scratched her head in bewilderment at the report sitting on her desk. Six of her guardsmen were dead. An entire response party killed to a man. The perpetrators, if the eye witness accounts stated in the report were to be believed, were anything ranging from a group of exotic knights in shining armour to Flemeth herself with an army of daemons at her side.

To make matters worse, many of the more disgruntled and xenophobic citizens, including prominent nobles were already blaming the Qunari for the incident and demanding retribution against the giants. A task the guard captain thought with a trace of resentment, Kirkwall was simply incapable of. Provoking the Arishok was the last thing on Aveline's to-do list.

The attackers, whomever they were seemed to have simply left the city after the incident and quite literally vanished of the face of the world. They had left tracks leading a couple of miles away from the city, and then nothing. The trail simply ended there leaving the trackers scratching their heads and their tracking dogs barking at the sky.

Aveline dropped the report back on her desk after giving it another cursory scan. It was time for the part of the job that any compassionate Guard captain hated the most. The condolence letters weren't going to write themselves.

* * *

"I see why they call it _The Hanged Man_ now." Kara remarked disdainfully upon discovering the grotesque sculpture suspended by a chain from the roof of the tavern. "So uncivilized."

"Oh It's not so scary looking on the inside." Reassured Merrill with a nervous smile. "You will have plenty of good company too."

The muffled sound of glass clinking, laughter and shouting were audible from the streets outside the tavern. It nostalgically reminded Kara of the seedy bars and cantinas that could be found on every street corner and alleyway of the New Daviox slums and the poorer areas of other Outer Rim planets she had the privilege of travelling to in her early teenage years spent with a band of smugglers.

Upon entering the tavern they were greeted by a rustic, yet almost barbaric aesthetic. Rusted chains and tattered cloth banners descended from the ceiling, the floor's wooden boards were broken in some areas and crude paintings of the statues she had seen upon entering the city covered much of the walls. The visuals alone were enough to make Kara grateful that she had the sense to suit up and arm herself. If Merrill's descriptions of her adventures with this Hawke character had any truth to them she would probably be needing the protection and firepower she brought.

"That is some… interesting armour." Hawke observed as Merrill approached the table with her new friend in tow.

"Very shiny" Commented Varric in acknowledgment. "Hardly practical though, too easy to slip a dagger through one of those exposed joints."

"It allows for better mobility, who or whatever is under that suit will be slightly more agile than say a templar in full plate armour." Was Fenris's retort.

Merrill was almost giddy with excitement, and it showed. She approached Hawke and the rest of the group with an ear to ear grin before introducing her tag-along.

"Hawke, Varric, Fenris, this is Kara, I found her sitting in a courtyard last night."

"It's a pleasure to meet you all." Kara spoke up after removing her helmet.

Hawke offered her hand in greeting and Kara shook it firmly before doing the same with Varric who introduced himself with his usual enthusiasm.

"Varric Tethras, Story teller and occasional businessman, at your service."

Fenris abstained from the introduction ceremony, he stayed leaning against a stone pillar as he observed the stranger with suspicion.

"We were just talking about your armour there, it's an interesting design." Hawke commented.

"Thank you, it's standard issue for the branch of the military that I serve."

"And what military is it that you serve?" came Fenris's deep, smooth voice as he finally seemed to take an interest in the exchange.

Kara detected a hint of hostility in the Elf's tone.

"Not one you would have heard off."

"Try me." The hostility was more tangible now, his words more forceful.

"Alright then." Kara gave in, feeling some enmity of her own. "I'm a Stormtrooper, of the Galactic Empire's Stormtrooper Corps."

"The Galactic Empire? Is that what the Tevinter Imperium is calling itself these days?" Fenris's tone had reached what Kara imagined was peak hostility at this point. "A blood mage and a Tevinter soldier, why am I not surprised?"

"Fenris, that's enough!" Hawke cut in before he could rant any further. "There will plenty of time to interrogate her over Wicked Grace later tonight." Her interjection seemed to succeed as Fenris withheld what he was going to say next. He simply shook his head and looked away, as if the walls had suddenly become very interesting to him.

"I doubt she's a Tevinter, broody. She doesn't even have the accent." Varric said in an attempt to salvage some civility.

Hawke was eager to change the subject. "Well, now that introductions are out the way, we'd best move."

"Don't want to keep the Arishok waiting, do we?" Varric asked rhetorically.

"Indeed." Hawke confirmed before turning back to Kara. "Do you have a weapon?"

Kara patted the E-11 at her hip and gave her an affirmative. "Yes Ma'am."

The other woman cocked a brow. "Ma'am? Don't let Isabella hear you calling me that. She'll get very jealous."

Hawke and Varric laughed rancorously, even Fenris gave a slight chuckle, leaving Kara red in the cheeks and Merrill very confused.

* * *

 _First day here and I've already made an enemy, great._ Kara thought to herself as she caught Fenris giving her a suspicious glare yet again.

They were coming up to the gates of the Qunari compound. Kara was sure that if she didn't have her helmet on the look on her face would provide her new friends with great amusement.

Standing guard was an impressive, tall, barrel chested example of a near human. Crowning his head were a pair of extraordinary horns that were visible coming out the back of his helmet. The Alien looked like he could give a Wookie a struggle, and possibly win in the process.

"You are Hawke." The Qunari gatekeeper acknowledged the party's leader. "A patrol went missing along the wounded coast. The Arishok says you have some semblance of honour, so tell me, did you kill them?"

Hawke, who was almost speechless, looked up at the giant "I can't be your only suspect." She finally found a suitable response. "There's Coterie, Carta, Templars… take your pick."

The Qunari made a "Hmph" sound as if he found what she said humorous "You think the bas of this city could fell a karataam? Hardly. You are another matter. I believe you though, if you are not responsible then I waste my time." He finally conceded before signalling someone on the other side to open the gate for them.

"It seems the Qunari aren't exactly in a hurry to return home." Fenris remarked upon seeing the giant's take on a forward operating base that was laid out before them. Rows upon rows of tents serving various purposes littered the floor of the complex, primitive battlements that lined the walls and roofs were patrolled by Qunari soldiers brandishing colossal bows as well as what Kara assumed were throwing spears.

"They are certainly here for some kind of military operation, I can tell that much" the stormtrooper concurred as she surveyed the compound. Her helmet filtered voice drew strange looks from the party, most notably Fenris of course.

The party approached a set of stairs leading up to a makeshift throne, sat upon which was a truly impressive specimen of a Qunari. Kara had to suppress the urge to whistle in appreciation at the alien before her. He dwarfed the other Qunari in the compound by a considerable margin of muscle and height. This one looked like he could take on several Wookies and come out on top.

"I take it that's the Arishok, their leader?" Kara asked Merrill

"That's him, quite scary isn't he? I don't doubt he matches Marethari in that way, especially on a bad day. I would _hate_ to see him on a bad day."

 _Scary is one way to put it_. The Stormtrooper thought to herself. His visage in many ways reminded her of the stories she had heard about the legendary Darth Vader, a tall and dominating figure whose presence alone demanded and inspired his subordinates to achieve nothing less than complete success in whatever task he was overseeing.

The Arishok stirred and dismissed one of his underlings as the party approached the bottom of the stone stairs, casting his gaze upon them as if they were subjects under his scientific observation.

"Serah Hawke" The giant of giants appraised in deep and smooth tone. "Last time we met I did not know your name, did not care to. You have changed your fortune over the years, the Qunari have not."

 _Not the most orthodox greeting. Must be a societal thing_. Kara thought to herself, entertaining her inner xenosociologist.

"I offer a courtesy, Hawke." the Arishok continued. "Someone has stolen what he thinks is the formula for gaatlok. You will want to hunt him."

Hawke seemed doubtful. "Excuse me, but that sounds like quite a feat."

"It was allowed." The Arishok responded flatly. "The stolen formula was a decoy, saar-qamek, A poison gas. Not explosives."

The Qunari leader shifted slightly on his throne before continuing.

"A small amount is dangerous enough to your kind, but if made in quantity… Perhaps by somone intending to sell it…"

"That merchant… Javaris." Hawke growled in realization.

"Would he be cautious, or would he assume success and make enough to threaten a district? A courtesy Hawke. You will want to hunt him."

Hawke turned to Varric "Any idea where we can find Javaris?

"I heard about a sell off, merchant territories and such, they don't do that unless someone left in a hurry. I'd have figured he'd rooked some noble. The man's certainly not a burglar." Varric replied.

"Just tell me where he is."

"I haven't kept up on the squirt, ask the coterie."

"Panahedan, Hawke. It will be interesting to see if you die." The Arishok bid them farewell with his characteristic apathy after witnessing the brief exchange.


	4. Chapter 4

**Authors notes:**

 **Thank you all again for the follows, reviews etc. Aside from working on the latest chapters I have been going through some of the previous chapters and fixing grammatical errors and improving the flow of the story.**

 **Gownfreak, I appreciate that, I'll try not to let you down :)**

 **Nightingale690, I agree he can be somewhat unlikable at times. I know Fenris has not exactly been cast in a positive light so far in this story but I'd like to affirm that I do not intend to use my fic as an opportunity to bash the character. I find him interesting and I think if you look at it from his perspective, the prejudices he holds and his constant brooding are somewhat understandable. That being said you can look forward to him butting heads with Kara and the rest of the party over the course of this story :)**

* * *

"Hey, Merrill?"

"Yes?" The Elf beamed back at the Stormtrooper.

"You mentioned magic earlier, what's up with that?"

The former first seemed confused. "Yes, I told you about that. What do you want to know?"

"You told me your people were like savants or something with it, how exactly does that work?"

Fenris made a disgusted noise behind them. "Prepare yourself for the arrogance of the Dalish." He muttered distastefully.

"So much was lost after the fall of Elvhenan, It is difficult to say just how much my people had mastered it, but much of the ancient lore shows that to them magic was as easy as breathing."

"That sounds impressive, but what exactly is magic?"

The party unanimously turned to give the stormtrooper a strange look.

Hawke was the first to break the silence. "You don't know what magic is?" She asked as if it was the most ridiculous thing

"No… well I have an idea of what it might be." _It's gotta be something to do with the force. I'm not going to accept any more of this fairy story nerf shit._

"And that is?" Varric encouraged.

"The Force, they say it's some kind of energy field generated by all living things and it somehow binds the universe together. Some rare individuals have the ability to control it, manipulate it to do things like push someone into a wall or levitate objects."

"That sounds similar, but not quite the same. Some people, mages like me, are born with the ability to connect to the fade which allows us to manipulate elements like fire and ice." Hawke responded

"The ability to connect with the fade also turns the mage into a living portal for demons to interact with the physical world." Fenris interjected. "It makes them easily corruptible and gives them an insatiable lust for power."

Kara supressed a laugh, something she had learned as a survival skill thanks to the clone instructors and drill sergeants at the imperial academy _. Demons, right. If this pattern continues then the next thing these primitives are going to tell me about will be flying, fire breathing rancors._

Hawke appeared genuinely upset by Fenris's reactionary interjection. "That seems a little harsh given what we have been through together so far."

The party was mostly silent for the remainder of the journey to Darktown.

* * *

Darktown, a place that greatly resembled the description of hell in many cultures in the wider galaxy. It was like a miniature, primitive imitation of the lower levels of Coruscant, a sprawling and lawless slum full to the brim with society's most desperate. The stench in some areas was intense to the point that it enough to affect Kara somewhat through her helmet. The rest of Hawke's companions were not as fortunate as her. Merrill struggled to keep down her breakfast as she covered her mouth and nose with her hands and wretched. Fenris and Hawke wrinkled their noses in disgust. To the short and burly man's credit, Varric had no apparent reaction. Evidently he had experience in places like this.

"Over there." The dwarf pointed out a blonde woman in leather garments to Hawke. "Coterie barker, If Javaris's goods are up for sale then we'll hear it from her."

"Turn up your purses, Kirkwall. The leases of Javaris Tintop are up for grabs!" The barker in question announced, confirming Varric's notion

Hawke approached the woman with the party in tow. "You're selling the assets of Javaris Tintop?"

"We are." The Crier confirmed. "Limited districts, limited contracts, keeps territory clear and separate from the start. He had a meagre lot, but he's skipped with dues outstanding, so up it goes."

"Sounds like he's made a few friends, can one of them point me his way?" Hawke slyly requested

The Coterie Barker seemed hesitant for a moment. "If you asked me that about anyone else I'd have you thrown out, this one. He owes me too. Javaris left in a hurry. I'd put him at smugglers cut if he's avoiding patrols. It empties at a cave outside town. Tell him I said don't come back."

Hawke smiled graciously "You probably won't be hearing of him again by the time we are done."

"Not the trail I'd expect from a master thief, just saying." Varric commented as the group departed again.

* * *

"There will probably be a lot of unfriendly people down here, just wanted to warn you." Varric cautioned Kara as the group advanced along the passage. "The smugglers around here won't take kindly to us wandering in on their operation."

"I appreciate the heads up." Kara acknowledged.

"Not a problem, Shiny."

"Shiny?"

"Oh now this just ridiculous." Hawke griped from up ahead. "How long have you known me and Aveline for?"

Varric chuckled before answering. "Quit your bellyaching, I'll figure one out for you eventually."

 _Ah, nicknames. Not surprising he'd have one for me so soon considering my armour is probably cleanest and shiniest thing on this planet._

 _Wait one second…_

"Merrill, are you sure you'll be safe in here?"

The Elf honestly didn't seem much of a fighter to Kara, she doubted the wooden staff the girl carried slung over her back would be much of a challenge to a gang of thugs wielding swords, bows and other primitive but lethal weapons.

"Ahh- well…" Merrill seemed hesitant to give her answer.

"Stick close to me, I'll try to ke-" Kara attempted to offer help but was cut off.

"I'm a mage." Merrill finished. "I can take care of myself in a fight."

"And so comes the revelation." Fenris deadpanned, finally contributing in to the conversation.

"I'm sorry, I should have told you sooner." Merrill apologised.

Kara was silent for a moment as she processed the information. _At least I didn't get stranded on a boring planet._ She mused.

"You hate me now, don't you?" Merrill stared into Kara's expressionless helmet.

Kara in her surprise was quick to respond. "What? No of course not. You've shown me nothing but hospitality."

 _Should I hate her though?_ Kara's thoughts drifted to uncomfortable places as she drew the obvious parallel between the Jedi of the known galaxy and the mages of this isolated world. _No, the Jedi are entirely different. An organisation that kidnaps children and uses armies of clone slaves as canon fodder._

Merrill seemed quite relived, the frown on her face had dissipated back into her almost ever-present smile.

* * *

"Eyes open, if anyone intends to ambush us they'll do it here." Hawke cautioned the group as they advanced into a cavernous space littered with empty crates and other discarded items.

Kara found herself agreeing with Hawke's assessment. It was quiet, dark, and so far they had yet to run into anyone else along the trail.

At the corner of Kara's eye she saw the outline of a person, highlighted red by her helmet's heads up display. She jerked her head to the left to get a better view, but her gaze was met with the rapidly approaching form of an arrow headed straight for her.

The primitive projectile struck her in the chest, ricocheting harmlessly off the plastoid plate armour.

The arrow attack seemed to act as a signal for the rest of the gang, thugs of all shapes and sizes brandishing primitive but cruel looking weapons emerged from the woodwork and dashed toward the small party that had intruded onto their turf.

"Hostile contacts!" Bellowed Kara as her years of Stormtrooper training and combat experience kicked in. She brought her E-11 to bear fired a trio of blaster bolts on the medium setting. Each shot found its mark on a bandit's centre mass as they charged, their falling corpses almost tripping up their allies as they fell. The rest of Hawke's party spared no time either, Fenris readied his greatsword, an ornate but savage looking weapon, and positioned himself between Hawke and the oncoming horde while Varric let loose a surprisingly rapid barrage of bolts from his crossbow.

It was the actions of Hawke and Merrill that caught Kara by surprise, they seemed to use their staves as some kind of directed energy weapons, something that should be impossible given the apparent primitive state of civilisation on Thedas.

So distracted was Kara by the spectacle that she almost failed to notice the battlehammer that was on a collision course with the side of her helmet. She turned around just in time to be greeted with the sight of the blunt object mere centimetres away from her face. It's owner was immobile, encased head to toe in ice. Kara turned to the likely culprits and was met with Merrill's grinning face.

"Thank you!" Kara shouted her appreciation before focusing once again on the fight at hand.

"Daisy isn't going to be able to have your back all the time, Shiny. Consid-" Varric was startled out of his musing by a blaster bolt that flew over his head and slew a bandit coming up behind him.

"Point taken, Shiny!"

* * *

 **Sorry for the short chapter and the abrupt end, I had intended to take this chapter further but exams are kicking my ass right now and I wanted to get it out of the way so I can focus on my studies.**

 **As always, Thank you for reading this far. Any constructive criticism you can provide will be appreciated.**


	5. Chapter 5

"It's over… that's the last of them." Hawke panted in-between rugged deep breaths.

"By the stars, are things always this intense around you?" Kara was pleasantly surprised by the outcome of the skirmish, when she had seen the oncoming horde she had not expected the entire party to survive. Fortunately the motley crew was almost unscathed sans a few cuts and bruises. Perhaps she had underestimated her new friends.

"You're a mage!" Fenris rounded on the newcomer. "Why lie to us?!"

"That does seem a little suspicious." Varric backed him up.

Hawke too gave her input. "You know me and Merrill are mages, why try and hide it from us. It's not like we would sell you out to the Templars or anything."

"What? What are you talking about?" Kara asked, caught off guard by the sudden barrage of accusations.

"You shot fire at those bandits with that staff of yours! Don't think you can pull the wool over our eyes so easily!" Fenris snapped.

 _Shit, how am I supposed to explain technology to these primitive screwheads?_

"Oh that, no, no it's not magic!"

"Of course it is, what else could it be?" Fenris continued his verbal offensive before Kara could construct a proper defence. "Your voice when you speak while wearing that helmet, explain that. Is it some kind of deamon speaking through you?"

Kara was silent for a moment in the midst of their storm of accusations and questions. She attempted to speak at several intervals but stopped short of the first few words each time until she finally came up with the only suitable defence.

"Let's just say things are… different where I come from."

"Yes things are quite different here than they are in the Tevinter imperium." Fenris deadpanned.

Kara was growing increasingly tired of this performance. "By the stars, do you ever stop with these accusations?"

Hawke also seemed weary of the interaction. "Look, just be honest with us from now on alright? Most of us are fairly tolerant of character quirks like magic. We'll try not to be too judgmental."

* * *

"And you are sure it was one of them?"

"Yes, lady Aveline."

"And he… it… whatever, was with Hawke?"

"Yes captian, it was one of white armoured ones we saw on the night of the massacre. I saw it heading to Darktown with Hawke and three of her regular companions."

"Alright, thank you guardsman. You may take the rest of your shift off."

"Thank you Capitan."

Aveline slowly sat down in her chair as the guardsman left. The sad truth was that she didn't have the evidence to present a viable case against this aggressor. She had only the eye witness accounts of Lowtown peasants who claimed to see the strangers present near the area of the killings. As much as she wanted justice for her guards, she did not have a strong enough case to take action.

"What are you getting yourself into this time, Hawke?" The guard-captain whispered to herself.

* * *

 _You'd think that after growing up an orphan and spending a few years with smugglers I'd be good at a game like this._ Kara pondered to herself as she drew a losing hand once again. The winning hand had gone to another member of Hawke's group of close friends, a sultry pirate woman by the name of Isabella. She had made explicitly suggestive comments to Kara and the others throughout the afternoon.

The game they were playing, Wicked Grace was of a similar concept to Sabacc, another card game which was an old favourite of the smuggler crew Kara had once worked for. She didn't have much success with it either. Be it through genuine skill or cheating as some of the crew suspected, the winning hand had almost exclusively gone to Goram, a sleazy middle aged Corelian man who specialized in negotiation.

"So Kara, can you tell us about how mages like yourself are treated where you come from?" A blonde man questioned from across the table. His name was Anders, a disgruntled mage and a victim of a local organisation called "The Templar Order". A faction the group had stressed that Kara be weary of lest she find herself incarcerated in a tower.

"Well first off, I'm not a mage-"

Fenris made a noise somewhere between a cough and a laugh. Kara ignored him and continued.

"-and secondly I'm not even sure if we have mages. We have people who are force sensitive which I guess is a similar concept to magic."

"And how are these force sensitive people treated?"

"It's complicated, and I'm not really an expert on the subject, but I'll do my best to explain." Kara granted. "Before the declaration of a new order about twenty years ago, there was an organisation, more of a cult really, called the Jedi Order."

"Where they something like the Templar Order?" Ander's inquired. "A group that captures and imprisons force sensitive people?"

"Not quite… well maybe from a certain perspective." Kara answered him. "The Jedi Order was itself an organisation of force sensitive beings. They kidnapped force sensitive children to indoctrinate into their ways, and that was the fate of most force sensitive people in those dark days."

"What exactly did the Jedi do?" Hawke questioned this time.

"The children raised by the order were trained up as warriors and keen manipulators." Kara explained. "The Jedi claimed to have the best interests of the average person at heart and they had a very powerful political positon within our government, this allowed them to manipulate the policies and decisions that our flawed government made." The stormtrooper paused and sighed heavily. "I could go on for hours about the atrocities they committed, the shear hypocrisy and lack of care for life was just… astounding."

"So what exactly happened to these Jedi?" Anders asked.

"On the last day of the republic, they staged a coup, attempted to assassinate our democratically elected chancellor and seize power." Kara paused as though she were anxious to continue.

"Well, what happened next?" Varric prompted, eager for the story to continue.

"We slaughtered them all." Kara spoke softly. "The adults, the indoctrinated kids, everyone."

The mood at the table changed tangibly. As though a dark cloud loomed over it and the people seated at it. Some looked down at their hands, as if inspecting them for dirt. Fenris was the only one to maintain eye contact with the storytelling Stormtrooper, his demeanour suggesting reappraisal.

Hawke was the one to break the silence. "But… surely… even the children?"

"You have to understand, the scale of the indoctrination forced on these kids was just…" Kara too was at a loss for words.

"That's horrible." Merrill spoke up.

Kara sighed wearily. This was a touchy subject even in Imperial space. She opted to tell another story to provide her new friends some insight.

"Toward the end of the republic, we were at war with an alliance of separatist powers. The old government had no standing military and it looked as though they would be completely overrun. A plan was devised by the Jedi to create a force that could rival that of the separatist alliance, they were able to raise an army of clones, exact copies of a proven warrior. These clone troopers were forced to fight for the republic under the leadership of Jedi Knights and masters. The Jedi were careless commanders, they used these clones as cannon fodder, so many of them died fighting for a society that they would not even be permitted to take part in. When clones decided they did not want to fight and attempted desertion, the Jedi generals would order their own brothers to execute them."

Kara paused to make sure what she said had sunk in. "That… is only a minor example of the evil that the Jedi were capable of." She decided to omit the part about the Jedi who was the reason for her being here in the first place, perhaps when she had a bit more to drink. For all she knew the man was still skulking about somewhere, but she doubted it. Had the inquisitor failed or been killed the naval brass was liable to glass the entire world to make sure the jedi was well and truly dead.

An uneasy silence yet again descended on the assembled group. This time Fenris was the one to break it.

"In the unlikely event that this story you are telling us is true… then I can see why your people did what they did. These Jedi sound a lot like the magisters of Tevinter."

Kara allowed the ghost of a smile to touch her lips. She was relieved at this sign of the resentful elf warming up to her.

"How are ma- sorry, force sensitive people treated nowadays in your Empire then?" Hawke asked.

"I never really looked into the topic really, I don't think they were treated that different from the rest of society. From what I know they are given special education to teach them how to control their gift without hurting anyone. The ones who excel tend to find themselves working for some kind of government agency." Kara answered her.

"That sounds surprisingly reasonable." Anders chimed in again.

"After what they did it's damn near benevolent." Fenris grumbled distastefully.

"What about home then, Kara? Tell us a bit about where you grew up." Varric queried.

Kara by this point was getting tired of the probing, she was not a fan of the latest question in particular. "Why not ask me that again after I've had something to drink."


End file.
